January 21, 2025 • 21 mins
On this episode of Move the Sticks, Daniel Jeremiah, Bucky Brooks, and Rhett Lewis preview all the matchups for Conference Championship Weekend. Can the Buffalo Bills finally exercise their postseason demons and defeat the Kansas City Chiefs in January? Will Jayden Daniels become the first rookie QB to win a Conference Championship game and send Washington to their first Super Bowl in 33 years? Find out which non-QB’s will play the most pivotal role in their team’s success and who the guys predict will meet in Super Bowl LIX.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
And now move the sticks with Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
What's up, everybody?
Speaker 3 (00:09):
Welcome to move the sticks, DJ, Bucky Rhett with you boys.
We are gonna look at these conference championship games today.
Excited about him. We got some great matchups. I'll start
with you, Buck first of all, just the one you're
looking forward to the most. What's the most compelling on
the AFC side of the NFC side.
Speaker 4 (00:26):
Well, look, I'm gonna say the NFC and just because
I'm excited to see how the rookie quarterback handles the
pressure being in the championship game in his first year,
Jayden Daniels has look again a lot the commanders of
sitting here one game away from going to the Super Bowl,
something that none of us had on that being go
card at the beginning of the year. To see this
turnaround happen so quickly really shows you the magic and
(00:48):
the power of a franchise quarterback.
Speaker 5 (00:50):
That's it.
Speaker 4 (00:51):
All of the wonderful things that Jayden Daniels has done
to this point phenomenal. Can he lock in and be
the same player in the championship environment when the stakes
are high? We've seen the poise the composure of the
confidence and all of that. Does he change at all
with look the super Bowl on the line, that's what
you want to see. Will he be the same player
(01:12):
that we've seen throughout the season. Because if he is
the same player, man, they have a great chance of
pulling this off.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Yeah. Look, I think if you look at the formula
that the Rams used to try to beat the Eagles,
I mean I kept looking at it as like, you know, defensively,
I know they let up those two explosive plays like
the first one of Jalen and then you know, the
second one to Saquon, But boy did they absolutely get
after him. I mean Jared Verst and Byron Young and
(01:40):
Kobe Turn I mean they were if the if the
Commanders can find some disruption along that defensive front. It
feels silly saying, but and keep Saquon Barkley from banging
his head on the goalpost on a seventy five yard run, Like,
if you can limit the those fifty plus yard touchdown runs,
just kind of make it a little bit more methodical,
(02:03):
I think they've got an excellent chance. So to me,
it's kind of more about how the defense plays. Jalen
Hurts and Saquon Barkley here, and if they can limit
those huge plays, which were massive in the way that
game turned for the La Rams into the Eagles corner,
I think Commanders a really good chance here.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
They're not gonna stop Saquon Barkley going for a buck
fifty against them twice.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
So I mean, and he's on a roll. Like think
about this, Think about he had what two hundred yards
against the Rams. If you go back he.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
Took a knee one, what would have been like a
seventy nine yard touchdown against the Packers. He would have
had like a bucks sixty, seventy whatever in that game.
We're talking about an epic postseason ride here. I was
talking about him last night, and the flashback I'm having
is it's rare for a non quarterback and offense players
a non quarterback to just like dominate the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Larry Fitzgerald did it with Arizona on that run. Remember
that buck.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
Yes, And this feels like that, like sometimes you get
in a zone and that dude is in a zone
right now. But I'm going to get to the key
to this game in my opinion, But also I'm gonna
wrap it together with all these other games as as
we go on here, but it's time for Hot or Not,
brought to you by with Sabi Hot Cloud Storage. So turnovers,
you know what, you know what? Looking at last week's games, Buck,
(03:22):
these are the four teams that won Kansas City, Buffalo, Washington, Philadelphia.
How many turnovers combined for those four teams zero? They
did not turn the ball over. So if we're going
to talk about this game right here with Washington, they
have to continue to keep a clean sheet, which is
not easy ratt when you've got Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith
and all those guys bearing down on you, and when
(03:44):
you've got everybody in the secondary slay can take it away.
Everybody's punching at the football. And oh, by the way,
it's going to be cold. It's going to be really cold.
It's not going to be in a dome.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
So too many pieces of it to me. Also, you know,
are injuries. Sam Cosmi's out, leave your best offensive lineman
or you know, among them up there for the commanders.
So that's that's gonna hurt you, dealing with Jalen Carter
and that whole crew in the interior. And then you know,
for the Eagles. What's the status of Quanyon Mitchell. I
think it'll be something to follow too, because I don't know.
(04:16):
I think I think Terry mclauren versus Darius Slay has
advantaged McLaurin. But you know, seen as how Aj Terrell
kind of locked McLaren down, I feel like that's more
of Quenyon Mitchell's skill set. So let's let's kind of
see what that part of the matchup looks like. But
I think those are two kind of intriguing pieces of
this thing to follow throughout the week.
Speaker 4 (04:34):
Well, and I will say this, and there's an injury
to Isaiah Rodgers at the NAIM and we don't know
what his status is, but he certainly.
Speaker 5 (04:42):
Was waldough in that game.
Speaker 4 (04:44):
And man they went on and Diami Brown showed up
and showed up in a major way in that divisional round.
And so you'd like to think that they're going to
take their shots down the field, whether it's versus the
young guy and Queenyan Mitchell or Isaiah Rodgers going to
be speaking, they can't. Can the Commanders cash in on
those chances if they're given the opportunity to push it
(05:04):
down the field.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
So We'll see what happens with Jalen Hurts health on that.
On that side of things, I would say my sneaky suspicion.
Knowing to Vante Smith and how much he loves big
stages and knowing that his drop cost them the last
game against Washington, I think that could be a that
could be kind of a sneaky one to keep an
eye on. Because all the resources are going to go
(05:27):
to slow down Saquon Barkley. You're gonna get one on ones.
But I think Vante Smith is a tough cover out there.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
I agree.
Speaker 4 (05:33):
Yeah, So now let's let's be honest. This is why
the Commanders made the move. But let him whether he's
up or not, if he's available. Part of part of
the reason they made it is because dan Quinn said this, hey,
hurd or not, like you always got to take advantage
of an opportunity to get a number one cornerback. Well,
these are the games that those guys have to show up.
He hasn't played often for the Commanders, but if he
(05:55):
does play, can he take on one of those matchups
that allows you to pour extra resource versus devote extra
resources to dealing with Saquon.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
Bar Yeah, well, I mean again, I think just to
kind of put a bow on where we started with
this whole thing.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Play clean.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
You know, you've got to try and take the ball
away if you can, But offensively, you've got to play
clean because you know, if we're talking about hot or not,
like man, it's not you turn the ball over, you are.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Not advances that ain't gonna be it.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
That was this week's Hot or Not segment, brought to
you by with Sabbi Hot Cloud storage, Store more and
do more with your data. Try them for free at
withsaby dot com. All right, let's let's move on to
the next, uh the other game here. When you look
on the other side in the afcaby on more time,
does this feel like I mean, it's just kind of
(06:42):
felt inevitable. Man Like once once, I would say, once
Burrow and the Bengals kind of scuffled along. It just
felt like whether this was going to be the championship
game or some point in time, these two teams and
these quarterbacks are going to deal with each other.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
It did feel a little different to me though, with
Baltimore this year and the way that Derrick Henry was
running the ball late that maybe that that that they
would have a shot to be that that team. But yeah,
I mean, like this, if you'd have told us this
was going to happen before now, look, actually you go
back to it before the season, I don't know that
we all thought that this was necessarily going to be
the way that the Bills were going, you know, to
find themselves in an AFC championship game, you know, as
(07:15):
more of a physical, run first type of team, but
still allowing you know, Josh to put that that cape
on and become Superman when they need him to, like
he has. But their defense has played a lot better.
Matt Malano coming back. I think it's been huge for him,
too huge in the run game, and so that'll be
big here. You know, you you kind of make that
one dimensional for Kansas City. They're not the explosive team
(07:35):
that they have been. But how do you know, how
do you deal with Kelsey who proved he could still
get open in the big moments like he did against
the Houston Texans there, and they had some they had
some busted coverages, which is unfortunate against you know, one
of one of the top targets. But I man, this
is gonna be a lot of fun. But I really
like the bills chances in this one. I really do, Buck,
(07:57):
What do you think?
Speaker 4 (07:58):
No, look, man, this is is kind of like one
of those moments, man, where we've seen so many championship
teams have to go through this. It's very reminiscent of
like as a kid watching the Bulls through the Tristons
and finally having to vanquish the Bully. And so for
the Buffalo Bills, this is the opportunity to do it.
It's not only the fact that they beat him in
the regular season, but going all the way back a
(08:19):
few years ago when they had the game won thirteen
seconds left, all they got to do is finish the deal.
This is that full circle moment for them to do it,
because if able to knock this off, it really opens
the gates for them to not only win the Super Bowl,
but to be the team that we talk about. But
can they lock in mentally and not worry about all
the previous failures and take this game for what it is,
(08:41):
one game to get it done. Lock in, do the
same things that have done throughout the year, which is
take care of the ball. Josh Allen, not trying to
get outside of himself. Just do what the defense gives you.
If you do that, yeah, they have a great chance
to win.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
I think I think real quick a ret on that game.
You go back to their earlier meeting this year, and
Josh Allen ran the ball I think twelve times, so
that that's got to be a part of it. He
had twelve carries for fifty five yards and a touchdown,
which was the iicer late late in net ball game.
But I think Josh looks fresh. He's probably as healthy
as he's been at this point in time in the
(09:14):
season that I can ever remember. He's coming off of
a game where really not much was required of him,
to be honest, against Baltimore, they you know, just kind
of played a clean game, nothing special. I think he's
I think he's got to change the math a little bit,
and you change the math by what you do as
a runner. So I would look for him to get
double digit carries again. And then on the other side
of it, if they're going to you know, stop k C.
(09:36):
You go back to that first meeting. Travis Kelcey had
two catches for eight yards in that one and make
them left handed. We say it all the time, don't
do what Houston did, which is play zone and ask
Al Shaier to try and locate Kelsey in space.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
That was a nightmare.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
So you got to get on him with the line
of scrimmage, no free releases, and make these other receivers
beach if they if if they beat you, as navior
Worthy and Hopkins tip your cap. But you can't let
Kelsey go out there and get a hundred yards.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
And Homes had two picks in that game too, you know,
you think about that part of it. You know. The
other thing is like we remember when the Chiefs traded
away Tyreek Hill, right, it forced a different way to
play the game, you know, for basically the same kind
of way we're seeing it now from Kansas City. It
almost feels like that's what's happened in Buffalo too. Once
they got rid of stuff on Diggs and gave Davis
(10:27):
that it's become a little bit more a little bit yeah,
a little bit more half court, right, a little bit
more of what we saw from Cad And obviously, you know,
Kaysas City is still in an AC championship game every
year and in the Super Bowl more often than not.
So I think this formula has worked well for Buffalo,
you know, kind of in a similar ways as it
did for Kansas City.
Speaker 4 (10:47):
Man, this is such a it's such a thing. So
it's funny that you talk about Pat Mahomes into two interceptions.
He has quietly curbed and eliminated all of that from
his game and if he can continues to be efficient
and do what Pat Mahomes tends to do in the postseason,
which is extend plays with his legs, make a handful
(11:08):
of plays, draw a penalty or two on a late
slide or something that he does outside the pocket to
lead to another fifteen to thirty yards. This is what
the Kansaity Chiefs do, like, they find ways to win.
And look at home, he's thirteen and two in the postseason.
At home, it is hard to knock them off in
(11:30):
that building. The crowd, the noise, the environment, all of
those things play a part of it. Man, It's an
uphill This is an uphill road that they have to
travel for Buffalo. And it's just as much as I
want to see the Bills, it's hard for me to
say that the Bills are gonna win because I've seen I've.
Speaker 5 (11:47):
Seen this movie.
Speaker 4 (11:48):
I feel like i've seen all these movies before, and
at the end of the movie we can see Pat
Mahomes gets to Lamar Hunt Trophy as they make their
way to another.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
Super Yeah, it's hard to to argue against that. Let's
let's take a quick break we come back. I want
to talk about if each one of these four teams
were to win, Who's on the Who's on the Who's
on the cover as the pivotal reason they won that
ball game? And I'm taking quarterbacks off, so no quarterbacks.
We've got to come up with somebody else. We'll do
(12:17):
that right after this. All right, guys, let's go back
to the NFC, and I'm going to tell you that Washington.
Now this is going to be hard buck because Jaden
Daniels is the central figure here. But if Washington goes
into Philly and shocks the world and gets to a
(12:40):
super Bowl in Jaden daniels rookie season, who's going to
be the sidekick, Who's going to be the one who
was pivotal for them to win that ballgame?
Speaker 5 (12:48):
Bobby Wagman.
Speaker 4 (12:49):
And the reason why I want to take is not
because of the plays he'll make directly, but Bobby Wagner's
ability to be the traffic cop for defense that has
to play lis out, his leadership.
Speaker 5 (13:00):
Ability, the pedigree, all of those things.
Speaker 4 (13:03):
I think about a calming influence for a defense that
have some youth and inexperience in the back end.
Speaker 5 (13:08):
To me, it's Bobby Wagner's show.
Speaker 4 (13:10):
Part of the reason dan Quinn made him the first
guy to be brought over is because he wanted that
extension of himself on the field. To me, this is
when Bobby Wagner's presence pays off for the Commanders.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
I swear to you, I was going with Frankie Luvu.
So the second level man, those off the ball backers.
You know, if if they are uncovered with an opportunity
to tackle Saquon Barkley for a four yard game and
not a forty four yard game, that is what is
going to be huge for the Washington Commanders limiting those
(13:47):
explosive plays, and they will play a big part of it.
Sold Jeremy Chin and so will some of those other
guys for Washington. But to me, those two off the
ball backers have to be all over the place and
they have to be like they have to kind of
set up a force field that five yard Mark like
you cannot have Saquon Barkley consistently going for seven for
eight for seventeen and nineteen. It's gonna be game over
(14:08):
before it even gets done.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
Yeah, I'm gonna go just for the storyline and Zach
Hertz going back into Philly with the fun interaction. I
guess I'll use that word which Siriani and him had,
So that would be, uh, that would be kind of
a fun watch, and I would know nobody would enjoy
that more than Ertz if he was able to go
in there and make some plays in the red zone,
maybe make some plays on third down. He has definitely
(14:30):
been the security blanket there for Jayden Daniels. All right,
let's flip it over the other way here, buck Philly,
Philly wins this game. Jalen hurts, we don't know right
now as we're recording us what the health situation is.
But who else and luck say Kwon Barkley's low hanging fruit.
Let's acknowledge he's going to be the dude. So let's
go with somebody else.
Speaker 4 (14:49):
Oh no, no, it's a combo platter. On the perimeter is
aj Brown and DeVante Smith one A one B in
the passing game. The receivers have been bored all year.
The receivers have been kind of keeping their frustrations to themselves.
This is the game where they give rewarded for their patients.
They have to be big parts of this game. I
(15:09):
cannot imagine in any world that Dan Quinn is going
to say, Hey, I'm gonna let twenty six beat me.
I'm gonna take my chances seeing if Jalen Hurts and
the Eagles passing game can get on track. Remember, this
passing game has struggled most of the season in terms
of the consistency. Well, I'm gonna test them. I'm gonna
go one on one. I'm gonna match up. I'm gonna
bring heat to Jalen Hurts, and I'm see if these
(15:31):
two playmakers on the outside can beat us, because.
Speaker 5 (15:34):
That's the only way that they can win, right.
Speaker 4 (15:36):
The only way that the Commanders can win is they
got to sell out to stop Sakwon Barkley. So this
to me is an aj Brown DeVonta Smith that type
of game.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Yeah, I'll look at Cooper Degene to me out in
space and the nickel and the slot. I think he's
gonna see Jays Daniels a bunch, and I think his
ability to tackle in space is going to be huge
in this game. Again, preventing those explosive plays, preventing those
those heartbreaker plays like those soul crush where it's third
and eighteen and Daniel's escapes get paid and he goes
(16:04):
for twenty one and like that. That's the play where
you think you're getting off the field and then it doesn't.
You know, it doesn't happen. So to me, that's where
I go Cooper de Gene, you could maybe throw you know,
the other exciting white in there and read blanket chip
at the safety spot. CJ. Gardner Johnson fits that bill
to those guys that are going to have to tackle
in space, I think it will be huge.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
Yeah, I'm gonna go dead middle of the field. Zack Bond.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
Zach Bond's had an unbelievable year. I just think he
has a chance to have the most impact on the game.
And when you're up against a dual threat quarterback who's
throwing it all over the place and also can run it,
I think whoever's in the middle of the field has
a chance to have the most impact. That Jalen Carter
in front of him, which would be an obvious one,
but I think Zach Bond, Who's play lights out all
year long, so I think he would be one definitely
(16:48):
to keep an eye on. All Right, Buck, if Kansas
City gets to yet another Super Bowl outside of Mahomes,
who's going to be the key pivotal person here?
Speaker 4 (16:59):
It's the same guy is showed up in a major
way on Saturday, and they will be George Carloftish Chris
Jones do it alone, He's gonna need someone else to
help him get after Josh Allen and George Caloftis has
proven to be the guy that can do it.
Speaker 5 (17:12):
He's a capable sidekick.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
He's someone who plays with relentless energy and effort, and
as Steves Bagnulo is prone to do in these high
leverage moments, what is he going to do? Blitz and
blitz preshle he creates one on one opportunities for Kaloftus
to get free. To me, is George Carloftis being the
robin to Chris Jones as batman.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
I'll go with Isaiah Pacheco. I just I don't think
we've seen enough from the Chiefs run.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Game any of it yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
Yeah, then it's a fifty yards against the Texans. I
think that that's got to be a bigger piece of
the puzzle for Kansas City to get past the team
like Buffalo, who has shown at times that they've had
some vulnerabilities there. Although they you know, they were okay
against Baltimore, but I still think that that's the place
that the Kansas City Chiefs can go to find some space.
Speaker 3 (17:59):
I'm gonna have a very weird one for you on
Kansas City here because I feel like this this might
be well, no, I'm gonna go special teams when I'm
not going pucker, I'm gonna go with matt Riza. This
this feels like a very close game. Look at how
Buffalo played last week, right, Hey, we're not gonna make mistakes.
Look how Kansas City plays, We're not gonna make mistakes.
(18:19):
I think this could be like a sneaky, low scoring
game and the simple fact of somebody who can flip
the field and arises got a huge leg so he
pins them inside the ten a few times. He could
end up being a major X factor in this ball game.
So that's off the off the radar one like, and it.
Speaker 5 (18:39):
Might be a little personal if you kind of think
about all that.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
Oh, I didn't even think about that. Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 5 (18:46):
It might be might be an opportunity to the ultimately
get back for.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
That's a that's a good storyline. Fascinating on that one,
all right, Houston, uh Starr, Houston's out. I don't think
they're gonna make it Buffalo X five.
Speaker 5 (19:01):
Oh Man, so many different ways.
Speaker 4 (19:03):
The obviously one would be James Cook, but I believe
it's gonna have to be someone in the passing and
it has a big game. And to me, I'm gonna
say Khalis as much as I'd like to think about
the other guys Amari Cooper in those things, Shakur has
been kind of like the steady and force in terms
of the big plays that have come in the passing game.
They will need to generate some explosives in the passing
(19:24):
game and I think he is the one that can
deliver it. Curtis Samuel has made it a sighting. He's
appeared a few different times, but I think cal Srews.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
Yeah. For me, it's o Cyrus Torrance on the interior
the Buffalo offensive line as being one of those guys
that has to deal with Jalen Carter, that has to
deal with Chris Jones rather. I think that that is
that's something. I mean, this Buffalo offensive line probably doesn't
get as much credit as it should. That's a good bunch,
is a.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Good tackles are really good too.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
Indeed, Spencer Brown and and Dean Dawkins. But I think
Ocyrus Torrance has been kind of underrated, really really good
on the interior for them, in that right guard spot
MC government center spot. I think those guys will have
to find a way and I look, I know Chris
can line up anywhere right on that defensive front. But
I just think that if they want to get some
(20:14):
ground game going the way that they have this season,
the way that that has benefited them this season, big
Ocyrus torents a player role.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
I'm gonna go a combo platter.
Speaker 3 (20:23):
I'm going to say the two tight ends for Buffalo
with Knox and Kincaid, I think that's where you're going
to try and find some matchups. Their secondary is really
really good, man. I think you're going to try and
want to get on some linebackers who can cover well.
I mean, this is a really good Chiefs defense. I
just like those matchups better than what they're going to
have on the outside. So to me, I think both
those tight ends maybe they each get in the end
(20:46):
zone and that could be the key there for all right, boys,
this has been a fun one. Anything else you guys
want to add before we jump out of here.
Speaker 5 (20:54):
No, man, I can't believe the seasons almost coming to
an end.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
It's crazy, all right, and draft season just kicking off.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
That's right, that's right. We'll have that come in your
way as we go along. All right, that's gonna do
it for today. Appreciate you guys hanging with us. We
will see you again right here on with the sticks.
And now move the sticks with Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
What's up, everybody?
Speaker 3 (00:09):
Welcome to move the sticks, DJ, Bucky Rhett with you boys.
We are gonna look at these conference championship games today.
Excited about him. We got some great matchups. I'll start
with you, Buck first of all, just the one you're
looking forward to the most. What's the most compelling on
the AFC side of the NFC side.
Speaker 4 (00:26):
Well, look, I'm gonna say the NFC and just because
I'm excited to see how the rookie quarterback handles the
pressure being in the championship game in his first year,
Jayden Daniels has look again a lot the commanders of
sitting here one game away from going to the Super Bowl,
something that none of us had on that being go
card at the beginning of the year. To see this
turnaround happen so quickly really shows you the magic and
(00:48):
the power of a franchise quarterback.
Speaker 5 (00:50):
That's it.
Speaker 4 (00:51):
All of the wonderful things that Jayden Daniels has done
to this point phenomenal. Can he lock in and be
the same player in the championship environment when the stakes
are high? We've seen the poise the composure of the
confidence and all of that. Does he change at all
with look the super Bowl on the line, that's what
you want to see. Will he be the same player
(01:12):
that we've seen throughout the season. Because if he is
the same player, man, they have a great chance of
pulling this off.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Yeah. Look, I think if you look at the formula
that the Rams used to try to beat the Eagles,
I mean I kept looking at it as like, you know, defensively,
I know they let up those two explosive plays like
the first one of Jalen and then you know, the
second one to Saquon, But boy did they absolutely get
after him. I mean Jared Verst and Byron Young and
(01:40):
Kobe Turn I mean they were if the if the
Commanders can find some disruption along that defensive front. It
feels silly saying, but and keep Saquon Barkley from banging
his head on the goalpost on a seventy five yard run, Like,
if you can limit the those fifty plus yard touchdown runs,
just kind of make it a little bit more methodical,
(02:03):
I think they've got an excellent chance. So to me,
it's kind of more about how the defense plays. Jalen
Hurts and Saquon Barkley here, and if they can limit
those huge plays, which were massive in the way that
game turned for the La Rams into the Eagles corner,
I think Commanders a really good chance here.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
They're not gonna stop Saquon Barkley going for a buck
fifty against them twice.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
So I mean, and he's on a roll. Like think
about this, Think about he had what two hundred yards
against the Rams. If you go back he.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
Took a knee one, what would have been like a
seventy nine yard touchdown against the Packers. He would have
had like a bucks sixty, seventy whatever in that game.
We're talking about an epic postseason ride here. I was
talking about him last night, and the flashback I'm having
is it's rare for a non quarterback and offense players
a non quarterback to just like dominate the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Larry Fitzgerald did it with Arizona on that run. Remember
that buck.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
Yes, And this feels like that, like sometimes you get
in a zone and that dude is in a zone
right now. But I'm going to get to the key
to this game in my opinion, But also I'm gonna
wrap it together with all these other games as as
we go on here, but it's time for Hot or Not,
brought to you by with Sabi Hot Cloud Storage. So turnovers,
you know what, you know what? Looking at last week's games, Buck,
(03:22):
these are the four teams that won Kansas City, Buffalo, Washington, Philadelphia.
How many turnovers combined for those four teams zero? They
did not turn the ball over. So if we're going
to talk about this game right here with Washington, they
have to continue to keep a clean sheet, which is
not easy ratt when you've got Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith
and all those guys bearing down on you, and when
(03:44):
you've got everybody in the secondary slay can take it away.
Everybody's punching at the football. And oh, by the way,
it's going to be cold. It's going to be really cold.
It's not going to be in a dome.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
So too many pieces of it to me. Also, you know,
are injuries. Sam Cosmi's out, leave your best offensive lineman
or you know, among them up there for the commanders.
So that's that's gonna hurt you, dealing with Jalen Carter
and that whole crew in the interior. And then you know,
for the Eagles. What's the status of Quanyon Mitchell. I
think it'll be something to follow too, because I don't know.
(04:16):
I think I think Terry mclauren versus Darius Slay has
advantaged McLaurin. But you know, seen as how Aj Terrell
kind of locked McLaren down, I feel like that's more
of Quenyon Mitchell's skill set. So let's let's kind of
see what that part of the matchup looks like. But
I think those are two kind of intriguing pieces of
this thing to follow throughout the week.
Speaker 4 (04:34):
Well, and I will say this, and there's an injury
to Isaiah Rodgers at the NAIM and we don't know
what his status is, but he certainly.
Speaker 5 (04:42):
Was waldough in that game.
Speaker 4 (04:44):
And man they went on and Diami Brown showed up
and showed up in a major way in that divisional round.
And so you'd like to think that they're going to
take their shots down the field, whether it's versus the
young guy and Queenyan Mitchell or Isaiah Rodgers going to
be speaking, they can't. Can the Commanders cash in on
those chances if they're given the opportunity to push it
(05:04):
down the field.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
So We'll see what happens with Jalen Hurts health on that.
On that side of things, I would say my sneaky suspicion.
Knowing to Vante Smith and how much he loves big
stages and knowing that his drop cost them the last
game against Washington, I think that could be a that
could be kind of a sneaky one to keep an
eye on. Because all the resources are going to go
(05:27):
to slow down Saquon Barkley. You're gonna get one on ones.
But I think Vante Smith is a tough cover out there.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
I agree.
Speaker 4 (05:33):
Yeah, So now let's let's be honest. This is why
the Commanders made the move. But let him whether he's
up or not, if he's available. Part of part of
the reason they made it is because dan Quinn said this, hey,
hurd or not, like you always got to take advantage
of an opportunity to get a number one cornerback. Well,
these are the games that those guys have to show up.
He hasn't played often for the Commanders, but if he
(05:55):
does play, can he take on one of those matchups
that allows you to pour extra resource versus devote extra
resources to dealing with Saquon.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
Bar Yeah, well, I mean again, I think just to
kind of put a bow on where we started with
this whole thing.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Play clean.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
You know, you've got to try and take the ball
away if you can, But offensively, you've got to play
clean because you know, if we're talking about hot or not,
like man, it's not you turn the ball over, you are.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Not advances that ain't gonna be it.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
That was this week's Hot or Not segment, brought to
you by with Sabbi Hot Cloud storage, Store more and
do more with your data. Try them for free at
withsaby dot com. All right, let's let's move on to
the next, uh the other game here. When you look
on the other side in the afcaby on more time,
does this feel like I mean, it's just kind of
(06:42):
felt inevitable. Man Like once once, I would say, once
Burrow and the Bengals kind of scuffled along. It just
felt like whether this was going to be the championship
game or some point in time, these two teams and
these quarterbacks are going to deal with each other.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
It did feel a little different to me though, with
Baltimore this year and the way that Derrick Henry was
running the ball late that maybe that that that they
would have a shot to be that that team. But yeah,
I mean, like this, if you'd have told us this
was going to happen before now, look, actually you go
back to it before the season, I don't know that
we all thought that this was necessarily going to be
the way that the Bills were going, you know, to
find themselves in an AFC championship game, you know, as
(07:15):
more of a physical, run first type of team, but
still allowing you know, Josh to put that that cape
on and become Superman when they need him to, like
he has. But their defense has played a lot better.
Matt Malano coming back. I think it's been huge for him,
too huge in the run game, and so that'll be
big here. You know, you you kind of make that
one dimensional for Kansas City. They're not the explosive team
(07:35):
that they have been. But how do you know, how
do you deal with Kelsey who proved he could still
get open in the big moments like he did against
the Houston Texans there, and they had some they had
some busted coverages, which is unfortunate against you know, one
of one of the top targets. But I man, this
is gonna be a lot of fun. But I really
like the bills chances in this one. I really do, Buck,
(07:57):
What do you think?
Speaker 4 (07:58):
No, look, man, this is is kind of like one
of those moments, man, where we've seen so many championship
teams have to go through this. It's very reminiscent of
like as a kid watching the Bulls through the Tristons
and finally having to vanquish the Bully. And so for
the Buffalo Bills, this is the opportunity to do it.
It's not only the fact that they beat him in
the regular season, but going all the way back a
(08:19):
few years ago when they had the game won thirteen
seconds left, all they got to do is finish the deal.
This is that full circle moment for them to do it,
because if able to knock this off, it really opens
the gates for them to not only win the Super Bowl,
but to be the team that we talk about. But
can they lock in mentally and not worry about all
the previous failures and take this game for what it is,
(08:41):
one game to get it done. Lock in, do the
same things that have done throughout the year, which is
take care of the ball. Josh Allen, not trying to
get outside of himself. Just do what the defense gives you.
If you do that, yeah, they have a great chance
to win.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
I think I think real quick a ret on that game.
You go back to their earlier meeting this year, and
Josh Allen ran the ball I think twelve times, so
that that's got to be a part of it. He
had twelve carries for fifty five yards and a touchdown,
which was the iicer late late in net ball game.
But I think Josh looks fresh. He's probably as healthy
as he's been at this point in time in the
(09:14):
season that I can ever remember. He's coming off of
a game where really not much was required of him,
to be honest, against Baltimore, they you know, just kind
of played a clean game, nothing special. I think he's
I think he's got to change the math a little bit,
and you change the math by what you do as
a runner. So I would look for him to get
double digit carries again. And then on the other side
of it, if they're going to you know, stop k C.
(09:36):
You go back to that first meeting. Travis Kelcey had
two catches for eight yards in that one and make
them left handed. We say it all the time, don't
do what Houston did, which is play zone and ask
Al Shaier to try and locate Kelsey in space.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
That was a nightmare.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
So you got to get on him with the line
of scrimmage, no free releases, and make these other receivers
beach if they if if they beat you, as navior
Worthy and Hopkins tip your cap. But you can't let
Kelsey go out there and get a hundred yards.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
And Homes had two picks in that game too, you know,
you think about that part of it. You know. The
other thing is like we remember when the Chiefs traded
away Tyreek Hill, right, it forced a different way to
play the game, you know, for basically the same kind
of way we're seeing it now from Kansas City. It
almost feels like that's what's happened in Buffalo too. Once
they got rid of stuff on Diggs and gave Davis
(10:27):
that it's become a little bit more a little bit yeah,
a little bit more half court, right, a little bit
more of what we saw from Cad And obviously, you know,
Kaysas City is still in an AC championship game every
year and in the Super Bowl more often than not.
So I think this formula has worked well for Buffalo,
you know, kind of in a similar ways as it
did for Kansas City.
Speaker 4 (10:47):
Man, this is such a it's such a thing. So
it's funny that you talk about Pat Mahomes into two interceptions.
He has quietly curbed and eliminated all of that from
his game and if he can continues to be efficient
and do what Pat Mahomes tends to do in the postseason,
which is extend plays with his legs, make a handful
(11:08):
of plays, draw a penalty or two on a late
slide or something that he does outside the pocket to
lead to another fifteen to thirty yards. This is what
the Kansaity Chiefs do, like, they find ways to win.
And look at home, he's thirteen and two in the postseason.
At home, it is hard to knock them off in
(11:30):
that building. The crowd, the noise, the environment, all of
those things play a part of it. Man, It's an
uphill This is an uphill road that they have to
travel for Buffalo. And it's just as much as I
want to see the Bills, it's hard for me to
say that the Bills are gonna win because I've seen I've.
Speaker 5 (11:47):
Seen this movie.
Speaker 4 (11:48):
I feel like i've seen all these movies before, and
at the end of the movie we can see Pat
Mahomes gets to Lamar Hunt Trophy as they make their
way to another.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
Super Yeah, it's hard to to argue against that. Let's
let's take a quick break we come back. I want
to talk about if each one of these four teams
were to win, Who's on the Who's on the Who's
on the cover as the pivotal reason they won that
ball game? And I'm taking quarterbacks off, so no quarterbacks.
We've got to come up with somebody else. We'll do
(12:17):
that right after this. All right, guys, let's go back
to the NFC, and I'm going to tell you that Washington.
Now this is going to be hard buck because Jaden
Daniels is the central figure here. But if Washington goes
into Philly and shocks the world and gets to a
(12:40):
super Bowl in Jaden daniels rookie season, who's going to
be the sidekick, Who's going to be the one who
was pivotal for them to win that ballgame?
Speaker 5 (12:48):
Bobby Wagman.
Speaker 4 (12:49):
And the reason why I want to take is not
because of the plays he'll make directly, but Bobby Wagner's
ability to be the traffic cop for defense that has
to play lis out, his leadership.
Speaker 5 (13:00):
Ability, the pedigree, all of those things.
Speaker 4 (13:03):
I think about a calming influence for a defense that
have some youth and inexperience in the back end.
Speaker 5 (13:08):
To me, it's Bobby Wagner's show.
Speaker 4 (13:10):
Part of the reason dan Quinn made him the first
guy to be brought over is because he wanted that
extension of himself on the field. To me, this is
when Bobby Wagner's presence pays off for the Commanders.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
I swear to you, I was going with Frankie Luvu.
So the second level man, those off the ball backers.
You know, if if they are uncovered with an opportunity
to tackle Saquon Barkley for a four yard game and
not a forty four yard game, that is what is
going to be huge for the Washington Commanders limiting those
(13:47):
explosive plays, and they will play a big part of it.
Sold Jeremy Chin and so will some of those other
guys for Washington. But to me, those two off the
ball backers have to be all over the place and
they have to be like they have to kind of
set up a force field that five yard Mark like
you cannot have Saquon Barkley consistently going for seven for
eight for seventeen and nineteen. It's gonna be game over
(14:08):
before it even gets done.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
Yeah, I'm gonna go just for the storyline and Zach
Hertz going back into Philly with the fun interaction. I
guess I'll use that word which Siriani and him had,
So that would be, uh, that would be kind of
a fun watch, and I would know nobody would enjoy
that more than Ertz if he was able to go
in there and make some plays in the red zone,
maybe make some plays on third down. He has definitely
(14:30):
been the security blanket there for Jayden Daniels. All right,
let's flip it over the other way here, buck Philly,
Philly wins this game. Jalen hurts, we don't know right
now as we're recording us what the health situation is.
But who else and luck say Kwon Barkley's low hanging fruit.
Let's acknowledge he's going to be the dude. So let's
go with somebody else.
Speaker 4 (14:49):
Oh no, no, it's a combo platter. On the perimeter is
aj Brown and DeVante Smith one A one B in
the passing game. The receivers have been bored all year.
The receivers have been kind of keeping their frustrations to themselves.
This is the game where they give rewarded for their patients.
They have to be big parts of this game. I
(15:09):
cannot imagine in any world that Dan Quinn is going
to say, Hey, I'm gonna let twenty six beat me.
I'm gonna take my chances seeing if Jalen Hurts and
the Eagles passing game can get on track. Remember, this
passing game has struggled most of the season in terms
of the consistency. Well, I'm gonna test them. I'm gonna
go one on one. I'm gonna match up. I'm gonna
bring heat to Jalen Hurts, and I'm see if these
(15:31):
two playmakers on the outside can beat us, because.
Speaker 5 (15:34):
That's the only way that they can win, right.
Speaker 4 (15:36):
The only way that the Commanders can win is they
got to sell out to stop Sakwon Barkley. So this
to me is an aj Brown DeVonta Smith that type
of game.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Yeah, I'll look at Cooper Degene to me out in
space and the nickel and the slot. I think he's
gonna see Jays Daniels a bunch, and I think his
ability to tackle in space is going to be huge
in this game. Again, preventing those explosive plays, preventing those
those heartbreaker plays like those soul crush where it's third
and eighteen and Daniel's escapes get paid and he goes
(16:04):
for twenty one and like that. That's the play where
you think you're getting off the field and then it doesn't.
You know, it doesn't happen. So to me, that's where
I go Cooper de Gene, you could maybe throw you know,
the other exciting white in there and read blanket chip
at the safety spot. CJ. Gardner Johnson fits that bill
to those guys that are going to have to tackle
in space, I think it will be huge.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
Yeah, I'm gonna go dead middle of the field. Zack Bond.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
Zach Bond's had an unbelievable year. I just think he
has a chance to have the most impact on the game.
And when you're up against a dual threat quarterback who's
throwing it all over the place and also can run it,
I think whoever's in the middle of the field has
a chance to have the most impact. That Jalen Carter
in front of him, which would be an obvious one,
but I think Zach Bond, Who's play lights out all
year long, so I think he would be one definitely
(16:48):
to keep an eye on. All Right, Buck, if Kansas
City gets to yet another Super Bowl outside of Mahomes,
who's going to be the key pivotal person here?
Speaker 4 (16:59):
It's the same guy is showed up in a major
way on Saturday, and they will be George Carloftish Chris
Jones do it alone, He's gonna need someone else to
help him get after Josh Allen and George Caloftis has
proven to be the guy that can do it.
Speaker 5 (17:12):
He's a capable sidekick.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
He's someone who plays with relentless energy and effort, and
as Steves Bagnulo is prone to do in these high
leverage moments, what is he going to do? Blitz and
blitz preshle he creates one on one opportunities for Kaloftus
to get free. To me, is George Carloftis being the
robin to Chris Jones as batman.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
I'll go with Isaiah Pacheco. I just I don't think
we've seen enough from the Chiefs run.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Game any of it yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
Yeah, then it's a fifty yards against the Texans. I
think that that's got to be a bigger piece of
the puzzle for Kansas City to get past the team
like Buffalo, who has shown at times that they've had
some vulnerabilities there. Although they you know, they were okay
against Baltimore, but I still think that that's the place
that the Kansas City Chiefs can go to find some space.
Speaker 3 (17:59):
I'm gonna have a very weird one for you on
Kansas City here because I feel like this this might
be well, no, I'm gonna go special teams when I'm
not going pucker, I'm gonna go with matt Riza. This
this feels like a very close game. Look at how
Buffalo played last week, right, Hey, we're not gonna make mistakes.
Look how Kansas City plays, We're not gonna make mistakes.
(18:19):
I think this could be like a sneaky, low scoring
game and the simple fact of somebody who can flip
the field and arises got a huge leg so he
pins them inside the ten a few times. He could
end up being a major X factor in this ball game.
So that's off the off the radar one like, and it.
Speaker 5 (18:39):
Might be a little personal if you kind of think
about all that.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
Oh, I didn't even think about that. Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 5 (18:46):
It might be might be an opportunity to the ultimately
get back for.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
That's a that's a good storyline. Fascinating on that one,
all right, Houston, uh Starr, Houston's out. I don't think
they're gonna make it Buffalo X five.
Speaker 5 (19:01):
Oh Man, so many different ways.
Speaker 4 (19:03):
The obviously one would be James Cook, but I believe
it's gonna have to be someone in the passing and
it has a big game. And to me, I'm gonna
say Khalis as much as I'd like to think about
the other guys Amari Cooper in those things, Shakur has
been kind of like the steady and force in terms
of the big plays that have come in the passing game.
They will need to generate some explosives in the passing
(19:24):
game and I think he is the one that can
deliver it. Curtis Samuel has made it a sighting. He's
appeared a few different times, but I think cal Srews.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
Yeah. For me, it's o Cyrus Torrance on the interior
the Buffalo offensive line as being one of those guys
that has to deal with Jalen Carter, that has to
deal with Chris Jones rather. I think that that is
that's something. I mean, this Buffalo offensive line probably doesn't
get as much credit as it should. That's a good bunch,
is a.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Good tackles are really good too.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
Indeed, Spencer Brown and and Dean Dawkins. But I think
Ocyrus Torrance has been kind of underrated, really really good
on the interior for them, in that right guard spot
MC government center spot. I think those guys will have
to find a way and I look, I know Chris
can line up anywhere right on that defensive front. But
I just think that if they want to get some
(20:14):
ground game going the way that they have this season,
the way that that has benefited them this season, big
Ocyrus torents a player role.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
I'm gonna go a combo platter.
Speaker 3 (20:23):
I'm going to say the two tight ends for Buffalo
with Knox and Kincaid, I think that's where you're going
to try and find some matchups. Their secondary is really
really good, man. I think you're going to try and
want to get on some linebackers who can cover well.
I mean, this is a really good Chiefs defense. I
just like those matchups better than what they're going to
have on the outside. So to me, I think both
those tight ends maybe they each get in the end
(20:46):
zone and that could be the key there for all right, boys,
this has been a fun one. Anything else you guys
want to add before we jump out of here.
Speaker 5 (20:54):
No, man, I can't believe the seasons almost coming to
an end.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
It's crazy, all right, and draft season just kicking off.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
That's right, that's right. We'll have that come in your
way as we go along. All right, that's gonna do
it for today. Appreciate you guys hanging with us. We
will see you again right here on with the sticks.
Hosts And Creators
Daniel Jeremiah
Bucky Brooks
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
24/7 News: The Latest
Today’s Latest News In 4 Minutes. Updated Hourly.